The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Oregon Wild and noted butterfly expert Dr. David V. McCorkle filed a petition last week seeking Endangered Species Act protection for Leona’s little blue butterfly. A single population is found in the Antelope Desert in Klamath County, the only population known in the world. It occupies a specialized niche within a volcanic pumice-and-ash ecosystem on private timberland and a small part of the Winema National Forest. Leona’s little blue is threatened by conifer encroachment, catastrophic and controlled fire, cinder pit mining, insecticide and herbicide use, logging-related activities and livestock grazing. Potential changes in land management that may occur with a pending change in the ownership of the majority of this butterfly’s habitat could further imperil this butterfly.

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Photo: Rusty patched bumble bee by Johanna James Heinz.